To Oklahoma and Back

OK, I know this blog is supposed to be about education and parenting, but I just completed a whole other type of adventure. I traveled with my mom (and uncle). Ugh! It wasn't easy. Here's the rundown of all we did from Pukwana to OKC. Please click the links to learn more about our stops.

Tuesday, May 24
My mom and her brother, Charlie, arrived at my house to pick up Quinn and me around 3 p.m. We had planned to drive to York, NE but decided it would make more sense to drive to Sioux City, IA. The first leg of our journey was fairly uneventful. We had a nice supper at Applebee's, I bought a new camera (to replace the one stolen last August; I'm still mad at that creep), and Quinn spent some time in the pool.

I knew the risk for tornadoes was high for Kansas and Oklahoma. I wasn't able to watch any TV news, but I was able to check for updates on my laptop. It was chilling to see the devastation to Piedmont, OK just 20 miles from our destination.

Wednesday, May 25
Woke up to rain, rain, and more rain with plans of spending the day at the Henry Doorly Zoo. Here's where things started to get tense. Mom wanted to just get in the car and drive. Just wing it, so to speak. I wanted a plan. We did end up at the zoo and didn't get too wet by the time it was all said and done. After seeing lots of animals and taking lots of pictures of turtles and tortoises for my friend, Lynn, we went to an IMAX movie, Alaska - Spirit of the Wild. Quinn was so tired, he nearly fell asleep. That doesn't happen often. Grandma and Uncle Charlie were actually well rested. They abandoned Quinn and me in the early afternoon. After roughly six hours at the zoo things became tense again.

The navigator (Mom) failed to tell the driver (that would be me) which way to go. Once the driver turned around and was headed in the proper direction, the navigator and driver had a disagreement regarding staying or going further south. Given the driver's stress level, it was decided the travelers would just spend the night in Council Bluffs. I chose a lovely Fairfield Inn with a Cracker Barrel just across the parking lot. We also learned that a tornado also touched down just two miles north of my uncle's house in Edmond, OK and they were without power, but otherwise okay.



Thursdsay, May 26
Thursday brought sunshine and short trip to the Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City, Nebraska.  We met an old friend there, Pastor Paul Lillenas and his family (wife, Vira and daughters, Christina and Anna).We explored the Table Creek Trail and received eight free Colorado Blue Spruce trees from the greenhouse. After an nice lunch at Lied Lodge, we said our goodbyes and continued on to Hutchinson, KS. After searching at least four different hotels for a room, we finally got lucky. We enjoyed supper at IHOP and we were all settled down (in our pajamas) when around 9 p.m. the fire alarm went off. Too say it was crazy and ridiculous for about 5 minutes would be an understatement. Have you ever seen an 82-yr-old man stand on the edge of the bed trying to read the smoke detector? Not good.

L-R, back: Pat, Charlie, Paul, Vira;
L-R, front: Quinn, Anna, Christina

Quinn sitting in an ejection seat.

Friday, May 27
We started out the day at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. We say an SR-17 and mock-up of the space shuttle, Endeavor. We weren't able to see all the exhibits, but we did watch the IMAX film, Tornado Alley. By noon, we were on our way to Oklahoma City (OKC). Our destination was finally in sight!

We arrived at my Uncle Bill's house around 4:00, I believe. After a nice meal, Barb, Brendan, Mom, Quinn, and I went to downtown OKC. We visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial and And Jesus Wept.

We also made a stop Bricktown for a water taxi cruise along the river. I could have spent  more time there, but it was getting late.


Saturday, May 28

Saturday found us doing a little shopping and more visiting with Bill's family. Saturday night brought the main event, I'd been waiting for, Remington Park! I wasn't able to stay for all 12 races, but had fun anyway. Just as we were about to leave, Quinn told me he'd seen Billy Etbauer. I thought maybe that was wishful thinking, but Quinn was certain. We looked and looked, but I couldn't see Billy anywhere. We had to leave, the rest of the entourage was getting restless (that's the polite way of saying they were bored). We finished off the night with a stop at The Cheesecake Factory. Quinn ordered an amazingly good piece of Dutch Apple Caramel Streusel cheesecake.


Sunday, May 29


Sunday was a busy day! We started off with church at Church of the Servant. This church has over 6500 members, 4 Sunday services, and trees and waterfalls in the sanctuary! You don't see that in SD. We then had lunch at a Guatemalan place called Cafe Kacao and did a little shopping at Tener's. Because restaurants and attractions are so spread out, lunch and little boot and jean shopping took almost 4 hours!

Quinn and I had to hurry. We had a date with Billy Etbauer! The Etbauer ranch is only 3 miles from my uncle's house. I sure wish we could have spent the whole day there. The EtbauerKord, Jacey, and Treg greeted us like old friends. I wanted Quinn to meet Billy because Quinn had researched and portrayed Billy for the 4th grade SD Hall of Fame wax museum in March. We enjoyed a 3 hour visit. We were able to talk horses, rodeo, tornadoes, and all the kids told great stories. And, we found out Quinn had been right. The Etbauer family had been at Remington on Saturday night!

We wrapped up the day with a little Route 66 time and a stop at Pop's. Pop's has great diner type food and over 500 varieties of pop including over 65 flavors of root beer.

Monday, May 30
Monday was fairly uneventful except for the fact that severe weather was forecast for much of KS, NE, SD, and ND right along our northerly path. Around 6 p.m., a friend (originally from NE) sent me a text saying her parents were waiting out a storm in a barn near Basset, NE. The storm was producing grapefruit sized hail and near 100 mph winds. Our destination for the night was York, NE. When we arrived, there were tornado warnings 2 hours west of York and the winds in York were blowing 55 mph. I sent a text to Gail (from BHW). Her husband, Dave, and their son are storm chasers. I watched the radar and warnings and kept in touch with her. We had supper at Chances R and Quinn was able to swim for awhile. The storms reached York around 10 p.m. with the tornado activity taking a southeasterly track, thankfully. At one point, it did sound like it was hailing ,but when I looked out the window all I saw was huge raindrops coming down hard.

Tuesday, May 31
Tuesday was uneventful. I was home by late afternoon. Quinn continued on to Newell. He'll spend a few weeks with Mom and Uncle Charlie. There was a lot more we could have seen and done, but it was a good trip overall despite the frustration at times. I think I'll wait a few years before I do it again, though.